By Donny Nadeau
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota women's tennis team steps out of conference play for a pair of matches on Sunday, as the Cardinals head to the Western Racquet Club for nonconference matches against Wisconsin Lutheran (noon) and St. Norbert (3 p.m.).
 
The Matchups:
Sunday, March 25, 2018 * Western Racquet Club * Green Bay, Wis.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-7 overall) vs. Wisconsin Lutheran Warriors (8-7 overall), noon
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (7-7 overall) vs. St. Norbert Green Knights (13-9 overall), 3 p.m.
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—March 18, 2018 * Fargo, N.D.: The Cardinals picked up their second 9-0 win in a three-day span, cruising to a conference sweep of Concordia at Courts Plus | Recap
• Wisconsin Lutheran—March 16, 2018 * Hilton Head, S.C.: The Warriors closed out their spring trip dropping their last two matches, including a trip-ending 5-4 setback against Greenville | Recap
• St. Norbert—March 15, 2018 * Orlando, Fla.: The Green Knights dropped a pair of matches to end their spring trip, falling to Augustana (Ill.) 9-0 and to Georgia Southern 7-0 | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Wisconsin Lutheran—Their Last Meeting:
• April 14, 2007 * Winona, Minn.: The Cardinals picked up their fourth straight win—and Val Meschke pushed her singles winning streak to nine in a row, as Saint Mary's rolled to an 8-1 nonconference win over Wisconsin Lutheran at the Winona Tennis Center | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. St. Norbert—Their Last Meeting:
• April 2, 2017 * Green Bay, Wis.: The Cardinals, coming off a pair of nail-biting Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matches the previous two days against St. Catherine and Bethel, stepped out of conference play—and took out their frustrations on Alverno and St. Norbert. Saint Mary's opened the day with a convincing 9-0 shutout of Alverno, before adding a 7-2 victory over St. Norbert | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are right back in action on Tuesday, returning home to the Winona Tennis Center for a 3 p.m. nonconference match against UW-River Falls
• Wisconsin Lutheran: The Warriors are now off until April 17, when they entertain Alverno in a 6 p.m. matchup.
• St. Norbert: The Green Knights do not play again until April 8, when they entertain both Concordia (Wis.) and UW-River Falls at the Western Racquet Club in Green Bay, Wis.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• The Cardinals head into Sunday's matches against Wisconsin Lutheran and St. Norbert riding a two-match winning streak, while also winning three of their last four. … Four of Saint Mary's seven wins this season have been 9-0 sweeps. The Cardinals also own a pair of 8-1 victories and a 5-4 decision over Macalester. … With her back-to-back straight-set wins at No. 1 singles against North Central and Concordia last weekend, Laura Sonday (West St. Paul, Minn.) extended her singles winning streak to six straight. … Sonday is now 9-1 in her last 10 singles matches. … Sonday (No. 1, 11-3) is the only Cardinal to have played all 14 matches at the same position—and has now played 52 consecutive matches at No. 1. … Sonday owns a team-leading 11 dual-match singles wins, two more than Julia Boeve (St. James, Minn.), and three in front of Colleen Lois (Green Bay, Wis.). … Lois had her three-match singles winning streak snapped with a straight-set loss against St. Thomas March 9, while Boeve and Cassandra Barr (Eau Claire, Wis.) have also put together three-match winning streaks this season. … Lois did not lose a game in her singles or doubles matches against Adrian on Feb. 28. The sophomore won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 singles, while also teaming up with Sonday for an 8-0 win at No. 1 doubles. … As a doubles team, Sonday/Lois share the team lead in dual-match doubles wins with 10. … Sonday and Lois had their season-high five-match doubles winning streak snapped with an 8-2 loss at No. 1 against Bethel on Feb. 10. … Sonday/Lois have accounted for 10 of the Cardinals' 24 doubles wins this season. … Lois kicked off her collegiate career with five straight victories last September—winning all three of her singles matches in the Gustavus Fall Invitational, while teaming with Sonday for a pair of doubles wins at the ITA/Oracle Midwest Region Tournament. … Boeve and Ashley Frederickson (St. James, Minn.) won their doubles draw at the Gustavus Fall Invitational last September, winning three straight matches. … The Cardinals are 49-35 in singles play this season, while owning an 24-18 record in doubles play. … The Cardinals lost just five games in the six singles matches—and two games in their three doubles matches—in their 9-0 sweep of North Central on March 16. … The Cardinals improved to 5-0 all-time against Edgewood with their 8-1 win over Feb. 23. … With their season-opening win over Martin Luther on Jan. 26, the Cardinals have now opened the season with a 9-0 victory in three straight seasons. … The Cardinals are now 11-0 in their last 11 meetings with Martin Luther. … The Cardinals won all six singles matches against Martin Luther in straight sets. All six Saint Mary's singles players recorded at least one 6-0 set against MLC—including a 6-0, 6-0 win by Boeve at No. 4 and a 6-1, 6-0 victory by Lois at No. 3. … The Cardinals, who went 7-1 in nonconference play a year ago, are 46-16 in non-MIAC matches since 2012. … The Cardinals made their first MIAC Playoff appearance since 2010 a year ago, falling to third-seeded St. Thomas 5-0.
 
Scouting The Wisconsin Lutheran Warriors:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• After closing out the fall portion of their schedule with a 7-5 record, the Warriors dropped two of their three matches in Hilton Head, S.C., to open the spring half of their schedule. … WLC's 9-0 loss to Concordia (Wis.) on Oct. 6 snapped the Warriors' season-high six-match winning streak. … The Warriors boast four players—Emily Boyd, Paige Potaracke, Reebee, and Katarina Volkmann—who share the team lead with eight singles wins each. … Potaracke has played all 15 matches at No. 1 singles, while Boyd has played all 15 at No. 3. … Volkmann heads into the weekend riding a three-match singles winning streak, while she and Potaracke are both 7-3 in their last 10 matches. … As a team, WLC is 9-6 at Nos. 4, 5, and 6 singles, while going 8-7 at No. 1 and 4-11 at No. 2. … Boyd and Potaracke have played all 15 matches together at No. 1 doubles, compiling a team-best eight wins. … Volkmann and Tabitha Schultz have posted seven wins at No. 2 doubles. … The Warriors are 47-43 in singles play and 22-23 in doubles action.
 
Scouting The St. Norbert Green Knights:
2018 Roster | 2018 Schedule | 2018 Statistics
• The Green Knights closed out the 2017 portion of their schedule with a 10-5 record, but have gone just 3-4 in their seven matches this spring. … St. Norbert enters Sunday's matches against Saint Mary's and Wisconsin Lutheran on the heels of its first three-match losing streak of the season. … Seven of St. Norbert's 13 wins have been 9-0 sweeps. On the flip side, the Green Knights have been swept in four of their nine losses. … Meg Witt is the team's singles wins leader, posting 15 dual-match victories, while Jordyn Lawatsch (11) and Lauren Paulson (10) have also recorded 10 or more singles wins in dual-match play this season. … All 11 of Lawatsch's singles victories have come at No. 1, where she owns an 11-5 record, while Witt is 4-2 at No. 1 and 11-5 at No. 2. … Paulson has played three different singles position en route to her 10 wins—going 2-4 at No. 2, 7-6 at No. 3, and 1-0 at No. 4. … Stephanie Doefert and Claire Hetzel are the Green Knights' doubles leaders, teaming for 10 wins. … As a team, St. Norbert is 77-55 in singles play, while going 36-30 in doubles.